Dave DK: Val Maira review – mere gorgeousness

Is beauty enough? That’s the conundrum at the heart of an exquisitely built, tastefully finished record from this German ambient techno producer, who could well make the kind of crossover that Nicholas Jaar, James Holden or Pantha Du Prince have managed in recent years. He taps into the prettiness of his label Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series, but without the kitsch – instead, there are weighty grooves based on minor chords, static and tinkling bells. At its worst, it has the banality of a teenage diary or a stoner’s wonder at the stars – even those bleary from dopamine on Café del Mar’s terrace will frown at the simpering Immer Gut – but there’s real dynamism and drama in We Mix at Six and Smukke Lydde. Yet even these potentially savage tracks are suspended in rose-coloured vitrines. DK’s craft ultimately undermines him: beats anchor the tracks rather than launching them, and the imperfections that characterise true beauty are carefully authored, leaving mere gorgeousness.